Beware the Ides of March

Julius Caesar famously met with a seer who told him to "beware the ides of March." History records that day in 44 BC as the day that Caesar was assassinated by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, along with about 60 other senators. On the day that he was to be assassinated, Caesar walked past that seer on the way to the senate hall. "The Ides of March have come," he said, obviously not believing the seer's words. "But they have not gone," the seer replied. Caesar walked on and was later killed.

Laura and I started watching the first season of Rome last night. I've seen it before, but she hasn't. I didn't realize until this morning how strange that was. If you haven't seen it, it's an HBO show that follows Julius Caesar's conquests after the fall of Gaul. Even though I know a fair amount of Roman history, it's still pretty fun to watch, knowing what's about to happen. From his lightning march down Italy after crossing the Rubicon (which I still think they should have said, "The die is cast" during) through to his eventual assassination, there's a lot to watch. I'm looking forward to this next jaunt through Rome.

HBO has put out a few shows I've liked. Rome, Carnival, Deadwood. All three of those take place in different time periods and the costuming and scenes are just amazing. Of course, none of them last very long. Rome hit two seasons, as did Carnival. Deadwood just lasted three. They're putting out another new show that's going to be pricey to produce: A Song of Ice and Fire. Hopefully that one will last a bit longer than the others.